Get Along, Gabrielle
by ShinyAbsol
Summary: With resentful thugs stalking their every move, it's a bad time to be afraid of horseback riding. Gabrielle's reluctance to face her fears could quickly land her in trouble.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Set between ****_The Greater Good_**** and ****_Callisto_****. This will be my first attempt at a chaptered story. Aiming for a threeshot.**

Slivers of orange lit the dewy, early rising sky. Through a canopy of trees that shimmered with life as woodland natives stirred, the sun cast a strawberry-blonde sheen on Gabrielle's normally red, red hair.

The young woman worked fast, irritation spurring forth every reach, every grab, every drop and loosening of fingers. She tied sacks with rope that had long since calloused her hands, cleaned the remnants of last night's meal from her weaponised frying pan, and glared hard at her tall, tanned counterpart.

Xena was stoic, simply watching her trusted (read: _tolerated_) sidekick. Her chiseled frame cast a shadow across the ashes of the morning's breakfast fire, on which Gabrielle had cooked the most delectable eggs Xena had ever scoffed down, before it had been snuffed out in her sudden, frustrated haste.

"What?" Xena had asked through a mouthful of poached yolk, "You had no problem riding Argo when we left Salmoneus and his people only days ago." She swallowed. "I don't see why you're being unreasonable now."

Gabrielle had huffed, stood upright and brushed down her tattered, rusty skirt. "That was different, Xena."

Grabbing the staff she'd been gifted during her stay with an Amazonian tribe, she'd made a point to jab it into the ground beside her. Xena, however, was unfazed. Her faithful companion had of course continued, as she'd expected. Sometimes Xena hated how well Gabrielle had perfected her ability to talk, and talk, and talk. She was going to make a fantastic bard.

"I had to grow. I had to face my fears in order to take on the duties you were leaving behind. You were dying, Xena. At one point I thought you were gone. You do remember that, right? My courageous fight to defend your lifeless body, which in actuality _wasn't _lifeless."

Xena raised a dark brow. "And?"  
"So I was able to overcome my fear and ride Argo. And I was obviously still riding that high when we left the village - figuratively speaking."

At this point, Xena had rolled her eyes and, as she'd mastered through enough practice, suppressed a chuckle at Gabrielle's antics. She stood to look her dead in the eye and cast a knowing smirk toward her.

"Gabrielle."  
"Yes, Xena?"

"It's too dangerous to risk leaving you on foot. I told you, Talmadeus' men have been tracking us since we defeated his army and spared Salmoneus' life. They're waiting for the right time to attack. I'm willing to bet there's an ambush not far up ahead and there will be too many men for us to fight, so I want to be prepared to make an escape. You're riding on Argo with me - _whether you like it or not_."

"No," Gabrielle had stubbornly refused, in a manner typical of her. "I'm not getting anywhere near that saddle. Argo and I are just testing the waters of our friendship, you know? Seeing how things go - at a very _slow _pace. And besides," she'd chuckled nervously, knowing how foolish she sounded. "You can't make me." It was worth a try, right?

Xena couldn't believe what she'd heard. Sure, Gabrielle could bluff, but to the woman whose corpse she'd risked life and limb for in order to honour her dying wish? Xena merely shot her a hardened glare.

"Oh yeah?"

With a swish of the head, a deflated sigh and a hand on her hip, Gabrielle made it known that _yes_, she did in fact realise the incredulity of the words that had slipped from her tongue.

"Okay, so you _can._ But I won't like it. And," raising her staff in an attempt to look threatening, she'd narrowed her eyes before continuing, "I won't go down without a fight. I'm an _Amazon Princess_, as you well know. I'm stronger than I look."

The amusement reflected in Xena's cloudy blue eyes betrayed her intimidating stance.

"I know, Gabrielle. Right now, I know you better than you know yourself. And I know if you'd only cast your doubts aside, you'd be capable of trusting Argo and riding behind me."

And so Gabrielle had given in to the irritation inkling inside of her, tired of always being ordered around. Granted, she'd wanted to accompany Xena to help her in her quest for redemption, to learn about her world and take part in any adventure that might come their way - but she hadn't anticipated that adventure would include horseback riding; a fear she'd held onto since childhood.

So it was with no small amount of fervour in her step that she'd packed up their belongings and trudged away from their makeshift camp, leaving Xena to sit alone atop a mound in the earth and wait for her return. Argo, the palomino steed and source of Gabrielle's ire, whinnied and trotted over to the warrior princess.

"It's all right, girl," Xena soothed, taking her sword from its sheath and grabbing a rock with which to sharpen it. "She'll be back once she's calmed down."

But Argo, though clever and capable of understanding her master on most occasions, didn't seem reassured by the words. Xena paid her hesitation no mind until a shrill cry echoed from the distance. Curse the gods; Argo could always tell when something was afoot. Sheathing her sword once more, Xena bounded into action.

"Gabrielle!"


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: this took a while b/c i procrastinated on it and the first chapter was short so this one is twice as long. i can't write fight scenes and i have a lot of trouble picturing them in my head and writing them in sequential order, so i hope this turned out okay. also may be a little longer than anticipated, but i wanted to up the ante a little with the plot. most of the xena fics i come across are smut so idk what's cliche/overdone but gabrielle is really fun to write.**

* * *

It wasn't that she thought Xena's advice unworthy of heeding - no, the petite girl knew better - but Gabrielle had developed a penchant for tuning out the stern undertones in her companion's words of warning. Learning on her own terms was best, she figured; even if her lessons were often taught the hard way. And being the case as it was, it should have come as no surprise when Gabrielle realised – too late – that she'd marched headlong into a trap.

A pair of rough hands; those of a brute with no self restraint, latched onto her upper arms, spinning her to the right and shoving her forcefully into the clutches of another thug. He grabbed her without flinching and unfastened a rope from the side of his breeches. Gabrielle's arms were yanked and pulled so tight behind her back she feared they might break, and she felt a sudden lurch in her stomach as she was bound and thrown against the ground like a sack of rotting meat.

A cough drifted through her chest, struggling against clouds of dust winding through her nostrils, but a filthy piece of torn fabric stuffed roughly into her mouth threatened to choke her. The clumsy, crumpled ball tickled the back of her throat, taunting her some more as her nose scrunched in discomfort. Just her awful, stinking luck. She craned her head to the side, with her stiff neck cracking and shouting at her with a throbbing ache, as she tried to piece together what was going on around her. Her thoughts raged in a confused, frightened swirl._ Lucky I don't have a broken arm right now. Tactless, conniving brutes!_

A stomping on the dirt, a sharp snapping of fallen branches and crushed leaves and the deep, throaty laughter above her filled her ears. She heard snickering from several different men; a count of voices told her there were at least 10 gathered around her young and defenceless frame and she hastily prayed to the gods on Mount Olympus that she hadn't well and truly done herself in this time.

Gabrielle's throat burned with the growing need to cough as debris kicked up by hefty leather boots left a thick coat on her cheeks. She squeezed her eyes shut. Suffering in silence, her thoughts seemed to be stuck in a continuous loop. _If Salmoneus ever gets us dragged into a situation like this again, I swear I'll be the one to personally dish out his comeuppance._ Squirming was futile; she knew full well she was only going to give herself rope burn, and the tears threatening to prick in the corner of her eyes were beginning to itch at her skin. _Hurry, Xena. What's keeping you?_

* * *

Argo tore through the woods under Xena's authoritative yell, kicking up a spray of rubble and leaves each time her hooves lifted from the ground. She galloped in powerful strides, covering as much ground as she could in as little time. _Come on_, Xena thought, her teeth gritting together in frustration. The redhead's desperate cry pounded in her ears with each passing moment that yielded no sign of Gabrielle. A heavy wash of worry fogged any coherent thought Xena might have otherwise entertained.

"Gabrielle!" she called again.

"Sounds like she's finally found us," grunted a surly voice. Its owner, a man missing several teeth and reeking of spilled ale, plastered a grin to his charred face. "About time, eh lads?"

Laughter milled around the clearing as men bit from dried slices of meat and rubbed the droppings from their beards with grubby hands.

"This is gonna be fun," a short, stocky man smirked.

A shrill cry resounded through the air, pricking the neck hairs of every piggish brute gathered to watch Xena leap from Argo and flip into a graceful dismount. Immediately she was surrounded, the overwhelming numbers spilling into battle, but Xena had done this all too many times. Her defensive reflexes were sharp as she shielded herself from a meaty punch, using the thug's own weight to send him spinning with a kick to boot. Xena drew her sword in one hasty, well-practiced motion, raising it in time to clash with the blade of another enemy.

With the collective strength of 10 men and a steel hard resolve, Xena pushed back her attacker and turned in time to dodge a cunning lunge from another thug. Gabrielle watched in disbelief; both in awe at Xena's vigour and amazement that once again she'd shown up just in time. She'd seen Xena fight on plenty of occasions, but to believe that she always, _always_ swept in at just the right moment was something she couldn't bring herself to do easily.

She was almost too engrossed in the seasoned warrior's movements to notice a particularly weedy man making a beeline for her in the chaos. He was crouched over, his pace slow and calculated as he stalked toward her, and were it not for a sudden jolt as one of his compatriots was sent flying in his direction, Gabrielle might've been sporting a nice new dagger wound in her back. She looked up, startled by the whoosh of air that had swept past her, and saw the man approaching her.

Her predator wasn't swayed from his advances for longer than a split second, and Gabrielle tried feebly to roll as far away from him as possible. As he closed in, toothy smile creasing the folds in his war weary face, Gabrielle forced a muffled scream in a vain attempt to alert Xena, praying she wasn't surrounded by too many enemies to make a break. Gabrielle scrunched her eyes shut, waiting for a severe pain to penetrate her soft, pale flesh.

"Oof!"

Her eyes flew open, stunned gaze following a familiar pair of palomino legs upwards, tracing over a well-worn saddle with a gleaming frying pan haphazardly tied onto it. If Gabrielle had been able to smile, her grin would have cracked a permanent line across her face. Never had she been so pleased to see Argo. Rolling onto her stomach, she hoped her saviour would see the predicament she was in and potentially bite the ropes, effectively untying her. In hindsight, perhaps Gabrielle had been on display in the blinding morning sun for a touch too long.

"What are you doing?" asked Xena as she jogged over, the aftermath of sprawled, beaten men dissolving into a blur behind her. Nuzzling Argo, Xena raised a sceptical brow at the wriggling mass of sidekick on the ground. Gabrielle rolled over again to face her so that Xena could see the gag in her mouth, blushing slightly.

"Ah," Xena sighed. She can't answer. That's probably for the better. She knelt down to pull the cloth from Gabrielle's mouth and swiftly cut the ties that were suffocating her limbs.

Gabrielle coughed and sputtered a little, sniffled, rubbed her face, and then looked at Xena incredulously.

"How do you manage to do that?" she asked, rubbing her itchy, irritated nose.

"Do what?"

"You know, always show up at just the right moment. It's like you plan things this way."

"Oh, I do. I enjoy chasing you halfway through the woods and cleaning up your mess. C'mon, let's get out of here."

Just as Xena rose to her feet and extended a hand to help pull Gabrielle up, a light shone in their peripheral vision. Materialising only a few feet from them was Ares, God of War.

* * *

Xena's eyes narrowed as she hefted her sidekick to her feet.

"What do you want?"

"My, my, that's not much of a warm welcome," Ares drawled, his velvety voice irritating the lining on Xena's stomach.

"I never have been much of warm person," Xena shot back, refraining from looking him dead in the eyes. Ares never dropped by just to say hello and she pondered whether or not his ulterior motive was the same as ever.

"You raise a valid point. Witty _and_ beautiful, two of my favourite things in a woman. Which brings me to _my _point."

Xena retied their belongings onto Argo's saddle, to make sure nothing would fall loose once they set off travelling again.

"Still beating that old dead horse?" she asked, no small amount of mirth lining her voice.

"You see, Xena, these buffoons here just couldn't get the job done. I had no choice but to come and persuade you personally." Ares scratched at his facial hair absentmindedly, waiting for the snarky response the girls were sure to give.

"You sent these men after us?" Gabrielle spat, her trusty staff now back in hand. Her fingers clenched around it, ready to defend herself in case anything else happened.

"No," Ares corrected, the ghost of a smile playing at his lips. "Do you really think Talmadeus' men are foolish enough to seek revenge for their failed leader? Any man with half a brain would know that going after Xena is a suicide mission. I sent those men after _you_. I knew Xena would follow once she realised that once again, her bratty little sidekick needed rescuing. Do you ever get tired of that, Xena?"

"You're despicable," Gabrielle snarled. "Why are you so intent on getting Xena back on your side? She's changed. She's not the heartless warlord that she used to be and she _won't_ wage war with you."

Ares clucked his tongue.

"You and I know two _very_ different sides of Xena. I believe her old self is in there somewhere. Buried, but not dead. Together we would be one mighty force to be reckoned with. If only she'd give up her little tirade of 'doing good'. I simply entertained the thought that if she realised what a burden you are, she'd drop the act."

"There is no act, Ares. Xena has changed her ways. She's _good_."

"Gabrielle."

Xena placed a calming hand on the girl's shoulder, shuffling past her to face Ares directly now. Her blue eyes bore into the slick, charming mask coating his face.

"I'm not going anywhere with you, Ares. And you'd do well to stay away from my friend."

Ares chuckled.

"I tried to do this the nice way, but it appears you leave me no choice."

A challenge had been thrown down. Xena had sparred against Ares before and was confident she could hold her own against him. As he attempted a sweeping kick, she leapt into the air, feet kicking out at his chest. Ares backed away quickly, and then whistled. Hidden mercenaries emerged from the tree tops, dropping a densely woven net over Xena's frame. As she fought her way to freedom, Ares moved in behind her, landing a harsh, cowardly blow against the back of her head.

"Xena!" cried Gabrielle, sprinting towards her fallen friend.

Catching her limp, unconscious body, Ares then vanished.

"No," Gabrielle breathed. She couldn't believe it. Argo whinnied, nudging her softly.

"No, no you're right, girl." Swallowing coarsely, Gabrielle tried to steady her wits. She was going to need them. "Who knows what he'll try to do to her? We have to get her back."


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: looks like there is another chapter in this yet! this story has been surprisingly difficult; i just wanted to write something short and funny but then i wanted things to happen so i could practice writing action scenes. but conflict of interest and a catalyst had to happen because that's the theme of the story - gabrielle's wariness of horses and difficult beginning with argo. gabrielle's dialogue is always enjoyable to write tho; she's intelligent and witty and stubborn and funny. xena on the other hand i think is hard to read and i struggled a bit with her. i hate large, boring chunks of dialogue from one character but she wasn't going to say something simple like "come save me gabby pls" .**

* * *

"Now, you and I both know we haven't been best friends in the past," Gabrielle swallowed, the lump in her throat coarse as it slowly dislodged. An uneasy chuckle betrayed any attempts toward false bravado.

"Friends, even. More…" she gestured with her hands, trying to find the right word. She nodded triumphantly as it came to her.

"Acquaintances! Fr-From a distance. A safe, feet-on-the-ground sort of distance."

Her nervous pacing picked up speed and Argo watched with mild curiosity as the human she was now impartial with repeatedly strolled back and forth. She huffed, dragging a hoof through the dirt. _I'll never understand the habits of bipedal creatures._

"But we need to call a truce," the panicky creature in question continued. She ran an unsteady hand along the tones of her stomach, unconsciously smoothing down her developing abs. Exhaling a deep, shaky breath, she looked up to fix her eyes on her reluctant accomplice.

"Xena is in who-knows-what kind of a mess right now," her hands moved to wave before her in a grand gesture which she could only hope was conveying the severity of the situation. "And _we_ got her –"

She paused, watching Argo as the horse turned to walk away.

"Right," Gabrielle amended with a roll of her eyes. "_I_ got her into this."

Argo halted and listened intently.

"But I mean, how was I to know that _Ares_ was watching us? All right, maybe I could've been a_ little_ more wary before storming off. But Xena just enrages me _so _much sometimes –"

Argo's left front hoof stomped at the littered dirt, drew a line in it, told Gabrielle to get on with her pep talk.

"Right, okay," Gabrielle sighed. "We're losing focus here."

Argo neighed in quiet disdain for the situation, the same as the girl before her would mutter under her breath in moments of frustration. Where was all this talk of _we_ coming from? This was the naïve little bard from Potidaea. She was simply being the bigger person – animal; horse – and complying to save her master and loyal friend. Gabrielle was, in her mind, comparatively on terms with a fly that never ceased to buzz around when she was especially grubby after being ridden for days on end.

"Horse and human," Gabrielle's faltering confidence was ripe in her voice as she tried again, "One unstoppable, heroic duo on a quest to rescue their teammate."

She paused, scrunching her nose in thought. "No, that doesn't sound quite right. Let me try again."

Her hands splayed in front of Argo as the mare desperately wished she could communicate with words. Maybe then Gabrielle would understand the invisible boundary she was pushing by being so fretful and ridiculous.

"I've got it!" The girl cried. "Two warm-blooded she-mammals, fighting through this world on a quest to conquer a god," she giggled a little at the end. "Well, do you like it? It suits us, right?"

Gabrielle's grin was blinding. Argo was unimpressed. She responded by nibbling on loose bits of food from the ground. How was this… this fresh-faced, inexperienced young woman going to save _Xena_, the revered, super-strong warrior princess and avid horsewoman? It was, to the clever steed, implausible. Xena was more likely to wake up, kick the god of war's butt and find her own way back. Perhaps all they really had to do was wait.

* * *

"Come on, Argo," Gabrielle pleaded, the fingers of each hand threaded between one another in a tight knot. "Please. Just – listen to me, okay. I need your help and _Xena_ needs us to work together for this. We can do this; we've done it before."  
Gabrielle looked to the sky, looked over her right shoulder, closed her eyes, and opened them again. She was fighting a losing battle of wits with a horse. No, this isn't just any horse. This was Xena's horse. Argo had a mind of her own and Gabrielle needed to get through to her. It wasn't the time for hostility.

"Now, you're a terrifying, freakishly tall creature who could easily – and I can't stress _how_ easily enough – knock me off balance and kill me at any second, and I'm, well - I can be intimidating when I want to be. Believe me, okay? No, don't – don't look at me like that!"

Argo knew the situation was dire. But she also had faith in Xena. The thoughts left her feeling conflicted, so she chose to ignore them and looked away.

Gabrielle tried again.

"What if Ares slips Xena some kind of drug or... what if he puts her under some kind of unbreakable spell and she's suddenly evil again and before we know it, the world is covered in spilled blood? We can't let that happen. We've got to find her before it's too late."

This time, Argo gave no response whatsoever. She'd come to a decision; god or no god, this was Xena. She'd find her way out of any mess, probably unscathed.

Sighing, Gabrielle slumped to the ground and placed her face in her hands. "Forget it. This was never going to work. I'll just have to find another way to save you, Xena."

Argo, no longer interested in listening, sought shade underneath a distant tree.

_She's definitely your horse_, Gabrielle thought, her brow knitted in annoyance. _Equal parts stubborn and ignorant._

"Hey, now. Watch who you're talking about."

Gabrielle's head slammed hard into the unearthed rock she'd been resting her back against.

"Ah, ouch, what…" she sputtered, shaking off the clumsy pain. "Xena?"

Her eyes widened as she took in the sight of her counterpart. It was definitely Xena; albeit it a ghastly, barely visible Xena.

"Y-You're back… but how?"

Xena leaned in close, cupping Gabrielle's cheek.

"It's not really me," she said, urgency heaving from her lips. "I'm coming to you from a dream. Ares has me under his control; I'm still unconscious. Gabrielle, I _need_ you and Argo to come together. It won't be long until I'm awake and I can't be sure what Ares has got planned for me - the dangers that we could cause if he somehow gets me on his side - but you and I both know how quickly things can turn ugly if you don't get me out of here now."

"Xena, I… I've tried to reason with her, but Argo's a _very_ stubborn horse. She's so determined to not listen to me and – you know what, I'll be fine," she chortled. "Who needs a horse? Not me! I'll rescue you myself. I'm sure I can do it if –"

"Gabrielle."

The redhead reluctantly looked into the fading, big blue eyes pleading with her.

"Please. Not just for my sake. Think about all the innocent people Ares could hurt if he gets his way."

"Xena, wait!"

Just as quickly as she'd appeared, she was gone. Gabrielle wasn't sure if she'd dreamed the message or not, but she knew both she and Argo needed to get their act together fast and set off to find their friend.

"She didn't even tell me where he's holding her…" muttered the aggravated sidekick.

Looking up, she noticed that things may not be as desperate as they appeared. Argo, as it seemed, had had the same vision. Much to Gabrielle's delight came the news, displayed by a silent nudge of Argo's head towards her delicate hands.

So here the two of them were, situated in a grassy clearing, an easy breeze blowing through the girl's red hair and the mare's creamy mane. Gabrielle had prepared the essentials for their quest and was prepping herself to mount her palomino comrade.

"All right," she breathed, levelling her shoulders and cracking her neck. With a swift lunge, Gabrielle scrambled atop the saddle, fighting to keep her foot in place on the stirrup.

"C'mon Argo, little help?" she pleaded, eyes wincing at her inevitable struggle. Alas, there was nothing the horse could do but remain still, and Gabrielle came unbalanced with a cry and a futile swing of the arms. Luckily, she'd chosen a particularly thriving patch of grass to serve as padding for any falls she might have. It wasn't until she'd almost broken her tailbone after the third try that realisation dawned on both of them.

"This is not going to be easy," Gabrielle grumbled, blowing a stray blade of grass from atop her nose.


End file.
